1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image-processing apparatus and an image-processing method, and is particularly appropriate for executing printing by using intermediate data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, image data and/or intermediate code that was subjected to raster-image-processor (RIP) processing has been stored in jobs, as output data, after print-job processing is finished, so as to achieve print processing with high speed. Then, data on print settings made for the output data (print job) has been managed as history information. After that, when performing a print job corresponding to the same print settings as the managed print settings, output data corresponding to the same print settings has been used so that the print processing can be performed with high speed.
According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-15610, print data is converted into output data and stored as history-file data in association with print settings, storage destination, and the user's name. An image-forming apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-15610 reads the history-file data corresponding to a user who had issued a print request and specifies history information matching with data on “file name and print settings” for which the user had issued the print request. When the history information corresponding to the print request is specified, printing is performed by using the output data stored at the storage destination of the history information.
However, since the print-setting data and the output data for storage are managed in print jobs in the image-processing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-15610, the entire print-job data needs to be transmitted and/or received when the output data is reused. Consequently, the size of data transmitted and/or received on a network, and the time required to transmit and/or receive the data are increased so that printing and outputting may be performed with decreased speed.
Accordingly, the present invention has been achieved, so as to increase the speed of printing executed by using intermediate data.